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Victor Whitman is chief reporter at Scotsman Guide Media.

Reach him at (425) 984-6017 or victorw@scotsmanguide.com.

News Roundup

On a national basis, the annual rate of single-family
housing starts was slightly ahead of the pace set a
year earlier, and ended the year at an annual rate
of around 800,000 units, the U.S. Census Bureau
reports. Home construction was accelerating in the
West and Midwest regions, but had cooled in the
South and Northeast, compared to a year earlier,
U.S. Census Data indicates.

<< Continued

In Words

Daren Blomquist

Senior vice president, Attom Data Solutions.

“What we are showing is that 29 percentof housing markets that we look atnationwide are less affordable thanthey have been historically.”Doug Duncan

Chief economist, Fannie Mae

“We view the strength in hiring asconsistent with increased optimismfrom the private sector following thepresidential election.”Home prices rangewidely in major cities

At the end of 2016, the median home price
in five of eight major U.S. cities exceeded the
national median price of $235,000, according
to the National Association of Realtors. Prices
ranged from a low of $224,500 in Houston to
a high of $837,500 in San Francisco.